Have you not answered your own question, if indeed you ever actually had one rather than bandwagon jumping as you are prone to do, to express your ignornant, ill informed, simplisitic views on anything connected with the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

What difference does it make where you are from?

Jesus, do you think James Joyce is routinely quoted in the Fountain, or Dee Street?

Quite why anyone felt the need to raise this in a food thread is beyond me Does the mere mention of Ulster, as made by Sir Percy have you salivating with anger?

I must mention it more often.

Anyway back to my favourite Rugby team.....

I like making non sequitur references that are tangential.

I have no need nor possess the inclination to be angry when Ulster is mentioned.

It's not a beverage or dish but chocolate in the U.S. (and North America for that matter) is a pale shadow of European chocolate. Yeah, there are some specialty shops on this side of the ocean that do it right, but they are far and few.

As for the pizza debate, I've eaten it across Europe and I found our pizza to be far better.

Have you not answered your own question, if indeed you ever actually had one rather than bandwagon jumping as you are prone to do, to express your ignornant, ill informed, simplisitic views on anything connected with the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

What difference does it make where you are from?

Jesus, do you think James Joyce is routinely quoted in the Fountain, or Dee Street?

Quite why anyone felt the need to raise this in a food thread is beyond me Does the mere mention of Ulster, as made by Sir Percy have you salivating with anger?

I don't know where they did it first - you can get this in the UK, and you can get it at state fairs in the US. what could be bad - batter, oil, snickers?

This reminds me of a joke a friend told me years ago. Q: What has six legs and three teeth? A: The line for funnel cakes at the county fair. Americans can't do any food well (I'll contradict myself in the next paragraph). French fries have to be passed off as French even to be palatable, and hamburgers make a pretence of being from Hamburg (Germany). The only thing I can think of that outrightly admits to being American is american cheese, which is not cheese at all but some vile, artificially-flavored hydrogenated oil passed off as something edible. It scarcely bears mentioning. The only thing Americans do well is seafood, and then only on the coast. (I suppose steak-eaters will argue this point.) The best pizza I ever had was in Switzerland, but then again it was a totally different animal from American pizza, which I can take or leave (I usually leave). Sushi is where I really stand on ceremony. In NYC, you'll find a lot of Chinese and Korean sushi chefs, who are probably learning under the guidance of a Japanese master. A disproportionate number of sushi bars are run by Mexicans, and when I see one I invariably run away as fast as I can without daring even to look over my shoulder. The Japanese, however, tend to tailor ethnic cuisines to their bland tastes. The absolute worst is Japanese "curry." Good Indian food can be had in Japan, but their own concept of it is a sugar-laden abomination that, added to the glutinous white rice that invariably accompanies it and every other meal, makes for a cloying, unpalatable, indigestible mass of starchy sludge.

Americans can't do any food well (I'll contradict myself in the next paragraph). French fries have to be passed off as French even to be palatable, and hamburgers make a pretence of being from Hamburg (Germany). The only thing I can think of that outrightly admits to being American is american cheese, which is not cheese at all but some vile, artificially-flavored hydrogenated oil passed off as something edible. It scarcely bears mentioning.

I don't get it...so it has to have "American" in the name to be considered American? Off the top of my head, the only European dish with a place name in it (various -wursts notwithstanding) is Bistecca Fiorentina, which Americans do much better than Florentines. I guess there's also Wiener Schnitzel, which I've never had in Vienna, but is considered home-cookin' by Germans. I prefer American goulash to Eastern European: better ingredients, not as heavy.

You can find someone doing good things with meat anywhere in the States. Rural-ish areas have produce that I'll put up against that of anywhere else in the world. The idea that any one place or culture has a monopoly on *all* good (or bad) cooking is kind of silly, really. Some would say that the Italians don't have any food of their own since the noodles came from China and the tomatoes came from the New World, but they'd still be wrong.

Oh, to reiterate on the pizza thing: Naples only. Not Rome, not Milan, not Germany. Just Naples. Then New York.

The last pizza I had in Italy, last week, in Liguria, was fairly tasteless and smothered in mozzarella. There's something charming about the pizza trucks in the south of France, and for 8-10 euros, they often deliver delicious interpretations on the pizza till about 11pm. Recommended.

Tom, there are many European dishes with place names in them, or maybe I misunderstood what you were trying to say?

Americans can't do any food well (I'll contradict myself in the next paragraph). French fries have to be passed off as French even to be palatable, and hamburgers make a pretence of being from Hamburg (Germany). The only thing I can think of that outrightly admits to being American is american cheese, which is not cheese at all but some vile, artificially-flavored hydrogenated oil passed off as something edible. It scarcely bears mentioning.

The only thing Americans do well is seafood, and then only on the coast. (I suppose steak-eaters will argue this point.)

The best pizza I ever had was in Switzerland, but then again it was a totally different animal from American pizza, which I can take or leave (I usually leave).

Sushi is where I really stand on ceremony. In NYC, you'll find a lot of Chinese and Korean sushi chefs, who are probably learning under the guidance of a Japanese master. A disproportionate number of sushi bars are run by Mexicans, and when I see one I invariably run away as fast as I can without daring even to look over my shoulder.

The Japanese, however, tend to tailor ethnic cuisines to their bland tastes. The absolute worst is Japanese "curry." Good Indian food can be had in Japan, but their own concept of it is a sugar-laden abomination that, added to the glutinous white rice that invariably accompanies it and every other meal, makes for a cloying, unpalatable, indigestible mass of starchy sludge.

Sorry, NR, I think that there are things that American food does very well -

comfort food - heavy items that are long cooked and are not so much dependent on quality of ingredients - chilli, bar-b-que, stews, food from rural communities such as the amish, southern soul food, biskets and gravy, fried chicken, chicken fried steak, etc.

simple baked goods - pies, cookies and cakes, I think, are much better in the US than other parts of the world. fancy, creamy stuff can be done better in Europe.

wide range of ethinc food - here is borderline. I think that some cities in america - nyc, DC, minneapolis, Chicago, have a great and wide range of pretty good ethnic foods in a 90 minute radious that is hard to find anywhere else in the world. That said, I am dissappointed with a lot of the ethnic food in NYC, so I would have to say that what you have is a wide range of mediocre to good ethnic foods, not great ones. but, it is still pretty hard to find that anywhere.

I am dissapointed with the quality of ingredients in the US - I find that the fruit and vegetables are dissapointing, although the flip side to that is having everything available 12 months out of the year. The meat is very good and cheap.

I beg to differ, Red! American breakfast. Pancakes with real maple syrup. Waffles with fresh fruit. Eggs sunny side up with home fries and toast. Crispy American bacon. Diner coffee. Those are hard to find, or hard to find right at most places overseas. Other countries do breakfast well, but they do a different breakfast.

I agree with globetrotter. America does fruit pies and cakes and cookies very well. You see a trend here, though: unhealthy food.

Have you not answered your own question, if indeed you ever actually had one rather than bandwagon jumping as you are prone to do, to express your ignornant, ill informed, simplisitic views on anything connected with the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

What difference does it make where you are from?

Jesus, do you think James Joyce is routinely quoted in the Fountain, or Dee Street?

Quite why anyone felt the need to raise this in a food thread is beyond me Does the mere mention of Ulster, as made by Sir Percy have you salivating with anger?

I must mention it more often.

Anyway back to my favourite Rugby team.....

Well I certainly didn't raise it, and I don't seem to be the one who's salivating w/ anger. I merely pointed out who was being quoted. You really are a bitter and irascible prong I have no idea what triggered this latest burst of venomous spew, but I'd appreciate it if you'd save your insults for when I actually do express my ignorant and simplistic views. Until then, fuck off....

My post was not intended to be taken quite as seriously as I think most of you are taking it. I did open with some pretty absurd assertions, after all.

I do have trouble with the heaviness of most American food. The only flesh food I eat is fish. I've never liked meat and giving it up at age 20 was one of the easiest things I ever did. Without meat, American food has little charm.

One advantage to living in America, though, is that you have a great variety of organic and health foods available. It's actually easier to be a vegetarian in America than in most other countries, ironically.